What is the best HD-DVD player out there?

Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones

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I currently have the XBox 360 HD-DVD player, but am looking for a standalone. Price isn't really an issue. Is the Toshiba HD-A35 considered the best? Anyone know how different it is from the HD-A30, which seems a lot easier to obtain than the A35. Thanks.
 
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[quote name='Indiana Jones']I currently have the XBox 360 HD-DVD player, but am looking for a standalone. Price isn't really an issue. Is the Toshiba HD-A35 considered the best? Anyone know how different it is from the HD-A30, which seems a lot easier to obtain than the A35. Thanks.
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How come you want to opt for HD when blu-ray is cleaning up?
Saint
 
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From my research, everyone always seems to point to the HD-XA2. I have one and it is very nice. The construction alone would seem to point to it being the best.

Apparently it has the best DVD upscaler currently on the market.
 
[quote name='TheSaint11']How come you want to opt for HD when blu-ray is cleaning up?
Saint[/quote]

He isn't opting for it. He already has the add-on and, I assume, a bunch of movies. Now, he just wants a standalone unit.
 
I have Blu and tons of titles, but I also have HD-DVD and a bunch of titles for that too (thanks to all these $5 clearance sales). I just want something separate from my 360 which makes too much damn noise when it's on.

I can get an A30 for significantly cheaper (and brand new) than the A35 or XA2, which are pretty hard to find.
 
The XA2 is pretty much the top-end of the HD-DVD players, and it's built like a tank. I picked one up as a class "B" refurb (scratches, though mine didn't have any when I received it) about a year ago, and it's run flawlessly with everything I've thrown at it. Looks phenomenal for HD-DVD's and SD DVD's look great upscaled.

As it's a hard one to find, and the A35 (which was supposed to be its replacement, though wasn't quite as good as the XA2) being just as hard to find, the best you're likely to find without going insane on money would be the A30.
 
You said price wasn't really an issue, which is why I recommended the HD-XA2. I would get one off of ebay or look around in pawnshops maybe. Ebay is good because sellers usually include a decent amount of movies.

Good luck
 
Price isn't an issue, but I don't like used. On the other end, it's just not practical to pay $900 new for a format that's dead.

Also, if it matters, right now my setup is straight HDMI into a 7.1 surround receiver.
 
I have a XA2, A30, and a 360 add on drive....also have tried the A35. The XA2 seems to be the best bet imo and it's always seemed solid for hd-dvds. In reference to the upscaling capabilities, it is one of the better ones for sure, but my oppo 983h does a better job. Trying to locate a new one is going to cost you a lot of money so I'd recommend getting a used one from a reputable ebayer with one in decent condition.....that can usually be had these days for around $250-$300. It also depends on what you're trying to do, if you're trying to bitstream DD Plus, TrueHD, or DTS MA HD (very rare on hd dvds)....then XA2 and the A35 are basically your only choices. If you are doing lpcm to your receiver, then the A30 will do just fine, there's nothing wrong with that player.
 
I'll just support what others have said. The XA2 is the best player. It has the Reon scaler and is the best in build quality. IMO, the A35 is the next best player.
 
Now I'm trying to decide if I want the A30 for about $140-150 brand new, or the A35 for about $200-250 used.

I don't think I'm willing to pay for what the XA2 is being asked for, especially since I already do have an HD-DVD player, even if it's an Xbox cheapo.
 
I have two players... either an hd-a3 or hd-a30 (1080p) for sale that I could bundle with a shit ton of hd-dvds, many of which are sealed. And by shit ton I mean I have over a 100. Let me know what your actually looking for and maybe I can help out.
 
XA2.

Best HD player out there, Both HD DVD and BluRay. I hope Toshiba one day will make a Toshiba BD-XA1.
 
I've heard great things about the XA2 as well, but if you're thinking about dipping into Blu-Ray and don't really care about BD-Live features... I'd actually recommend the LG BH200.

I just picked one up on clearance from Best Buy last month for$ 230 and couldn't be happier with it so far. The upscaling on regular DVD's puts my old A-3 to shame . All my HD-DVD's play fine as well (it has an Ethernet port so the online features still work) though AVSforum does list a few problem disks (mostly imports). I don't have many BDs just yet, but the few I've tried worked well. The first season of the TV series Chuck actually looked 100x better on this player than my dad's dedicated Samsung bluray player, as it somehow eliminated much of the noise. There's also an easy to get 75 dollar rebate on it since LG never came through with BD Live 2.0 profile support, which can usually be redeemed even on second hand players. I think it's a solid option if you're opening to spending some money.
 
Hey, some of you guys who have both the XA2 and the 360 add-on, is the picture quality any different or just the features of the player? For that matter, is the picture quality of HD-DVD's the same over not only those players, but the others mentioned as well or is there a noticeable difference. I'm talking 1080p HDMI on all, here. Thanks!
 
I don't believe that the 360 add on will output at 24 frames per second, so the XA2, A30 and A35 should have better picture quality due to motion judder. But you have to have a compatible display.
 
[quote name='DX']XA2.

Best HD player out there, Both HD DVD and BluRay. I hope Toshiba one day will make a Toshiba BD-XA1.[/quote]

I wouldn't go that far as comparing it to the high-end blu ray players ($3000+ players), but it is the best hd-dvd player.
 
[quote name='ilivas']I wouldn't go that far as comparing it to the high-end blu ray players ($3000+ players), but it is the best hd-dvd player.[/QUOTE]

Read the reviews. It IS the best one out there. You have to remember the XA2 had a high retail when released. The price dropped after Toshiba dropped out and clearanced their stock.
 
[quote name='Indiana Jones']Now I'm trying to decide if I want the A30 for about $140-150 brand new[/QUOTE]
where?
 
[quote name='jsuperman']where?[/quote]

It's over now. There were a couple auctions on Ebay for brand new A30s.

From the sound of things, I should get an XA2, but I just don't trust the used Ebay sellers. And the new prices from online stores are absurd.
 
[quote name='DX']Read the reviews. It IS the best one out there. You have to remember the XA2 had a high retail when released. The price dropped after Toshiba dropped out and clearanced their stock.[/quote]

A lot has changed in blu-ray players since toshiba stop producing it. WAS, and IS are two different things.

The high-end blu-ray players of today are significantly improved over the players of a couple years ago.

The $2000 blu-ray players from a couple years ago aren't even as good as a $150 blu-ray player today like the panasonic dmp-bd55, sony s550, or pioneer bdp51fd.
 
[quote name='DX']XA2.

Best HD player out there, Both HD DVD and BluRay. I hope Toshiba one day will make a Toshiba BD-XA1.[/QUOTE]

I feel the Pioneer BDP-51FD, Pioneer BDP-05FD, Pioneer BDP-09FD, and Oppo BDP-S83 are all superior to the XA2. You should try any of those 4 players out, I think you will agree.
 
[quote name='Ruined']I feel the Pioneer BDP-51FD, Pioneer BDP-05FD, Pioneer BDP-09FD, and Oppo BDP-S83 are all superior to the XA2. You should try any of those 4 players out, I think you will agree.[/quote]

The new denons are comparable to the pios, and oppos as well.

I have a pio 51fd myself
 
[quote name='tokerblue']I don't believe that the 360 add on will output at 24 frames per second, so the XA2, A30 and A35 should have better picture quality due to motion judder. But you have to have a compatible display.[/quote]

Just a warning here... I have an A30... the 24 fps looks great on HD DVDs... but it is a pain in the a$$ every time you switch to a regular DVD it does not automatically switch out of 24 fps... sent me into panic mode because I thought the player was broken... until I figured out it needed to be turned off for regular DVDs.

fps = frames per second

The above is for others like me who are too old to figure out all of these acronyms

what is oppo anyway?

imo = in my opinion ???
pio = pioner ???

DIO = Damn I'm Old

p.s. I do hope Toshiba gets back into the High Definition players someday... I guess sony was do for a win since their betamax was the best and lost before. It would be nice to see sony actually do something with that 50 gigs of space... instead of releasing featureless blu-rays and depending on BD-Live which they stole from HD-DVD.
 
[quote name='outtie']Just a warning here... I have an A30... the 24 fps looks great on HD DVDs... but it is a pain in the a$$ every time you switch to a regular DVD it does not automatically switch out of 24 fps... sent me into panic mode because I thought the player was broken... until I figured out it needed to be turned off for regular DVDs.

fps = frames per second

The above is for others like me who are too old to figure out all of these acronyms

what is oppo anyway?

imo = in my opinion ???
pio = pioner ???

DIO = Damn I'm Old

p.s. I do hope Toshiba gets back into the High Definition players someday... I guess sony was do for a win since their betamax was the best and lost before. It would be nice to see sony actually do something with that 50 gigs of space... instead of releasing featureless blu-rays and depending on BD-Live which they stole from HD-DVD.[/quote]

Oppo is a brand of blu-ray players, sacd, dvd-a, and upconverting dvd players. Some of the best on the market I might add. I own an oppo upconverting dvd player, and nothing can touch this in quality. It also plays SACD, and DVD-Audio to boot.

imo= in my opinion

pio= pioneer

panny= panasonic

yammy= yamaha

sammy= samsung

These terms get thrown around alot on avsforum
 
[quote name='ilivas']The new denons are comparable to the pios, and oppos as well.

I have a pio 51fd myself[/QUOTE]

The Denon 2500 isn't comparable to any of them. Although its built well, the core chipset is the Panasonic BD30-generation Uniphier, and as a result its DVD upscaling & 1080i deinterlacing is very poor. Its basically a rebadged BD30 with higher quality power components and chassis.

Denon 3800 is good, though, as it uses the Realta chipset instead of the Panasonic for scaling & deinterlacing.

I also have a 51FD, and I won't be upgrading this year. Nothing really worth it IMO, especially with full color 3-D Blu-ray players coming out next year, which will outdate ALL players coming out this year :)
 
[quote name='ilivas']A lot has changed in blu-ray players since toshiba stop producing it. WAS, and IS are two different things.

The high-end blu-ray players of today are significantly improved over the players of a couple years ago.

The $2000 blu-ray players from a couple years ago aren't even as good as a $150 blu-ray player today like the panasonic dmp-bd55, sony s550, or pioneer bdp51fd.[/quote]

Maybe you can get him to sell you some of his baseball cards using a price guide from two years ago. ;)
 
[quote name='Ruined']The Denon 2500 isn't comparable to any of them. Although its built well, the core chipset is the Panasonic BD30-generation Uniphier, and as a result its DVD upscaling & 1080i deinterlacing is very poor. Its basically a rebadged BD30 with higher quality power components and chassis.

Denon 3800 is good, though, as it uses the Realta chipset instead of the Panasonic for scaling & deinterlacing.

I also have a 51FD, and I won't be upgrading this year. Nothing really worth it IMO, especially with full color 3-D Blu-ray players coming out next year, which will outdate ALL players coming out this year :)[/quote]

I was talking about the 3800. Also, the bd30 isn't a bad player. I have one in the bedroom, and at one point it was the best bang for buck blu-ray player.


upscaling, and interlacing isn't important to me. I'm pretty content with my oppo 980 upscaling dvd player. It does a good enough job for me.

Do you have any more info on the 3d players? I haven't heard anything about them.
 
[quote name='Indiana Jones']Maybe you can get him to sell you some of his baseball cards using a price guide from two years ago. ;)[/quote]

:lol:
 
The Pioneer BDP-HD1 has gotten great reviews as having the highest-quality video output of all current blu-ray players. It ain't for the faint-hearted, though, at around $1500.

I have an original Samsung BDP-1000, which you can pick up for about $400 last time I checked (try secondact.com). If anyone gets this player, it is *critical* that they get the firmware upgrade from Samsung's web site, to correct a video-quality issue (softening) that occurs with the firmware in units that shipped before approx Oct 2006.
 
[quote name='vnvnvn2000']The Pioneer BDP-HD1 has gotten great reviews as having the highest-quality video output of all current blu-ray players. It ain't for the faint-hearted, though, at around $1500.
[/QUOTE]

The BDP-HD1 is outdated - it is slow and has been surpassed in image quality by more recent models. You are better off getting a BDP-51FD for $275 (seriously). The BDP-HD1 has been replaced by the BDP-09FD.
 
[quote name='tokerblue']I'll just support what others have said. The XA2 is the best player. It has the Reon scaler and is the best in build quality. IMO, the A35 is the next best player.[/QUOTE]

The LG BH200 dual format player also has the excellent Reon scaler, and might make a good alternative for less $$.

On 3D players, my understanding is that both a compatible player AND new TV would be required, assuming any actual standards emerge.
 
[quote name='vnvnvn2000']The Pioneer BDP-HD1 has gotten great reviews as having the highest-quality video output of all current blu-ray players. It ain't for the faint-hearted, though, at around $1500.

I have an original Samsung BDP-1000, which you can pick up for about $400 last time I checked (try secondact.com). If anyone gets this player, it is *critical* that they get the firmware upgrade from Samsung's web site, to correct a video-quality issue (softening) that occurs with the firmware in units that shipped before approx Oct 2006.[/quote]


That stuff is all old news. Like already stated you can get a pioneer 51fd for $250. Which will totally annihilate both those. Even the sony s-550 and panasonic bd55 has been on sale for $150 and will crush both those players.
 
If you guys are looking for a good upconverter, I use a seperate oppo unit aside from my bd-player . It does a very good job, and it plays dvd-a and sacd.
 
*cough check my trade list cough*

=)

That said, the X2 is definitely an awesome player. A30 and A3, or A20 vs A2, not a huge difference between the two - I remember the debate on hometheaterforum getting heated on that =)
 
I only found one HUGE difference between the A2x and A3x series, but it really only affects people with PC monitors. For some reason, my A2 would always output a FULL colorspace to my JVC HD-ILA wheen using HDMI, no matter what colorspace I chose. For some reason, it kept on thinking my HDTV was actually a monitor. So blacks were really crushed.

I ended up buying an A30 and the issue went away.
 
If you're looking for a Toshiba HD-DVD player, I recommend "cuteburger" on Ebay. I don't know where he's getting them from, but they're practically new and come over extremely well packed they might as well be new. In fact, he has an unopened brand new HD-A30 for auction right now.
 
Ive had the xa2 but the unit was really loud like the 360, so I took it back. The a30 was ok, got that at bestbuy with 7 moives for 50 bucks when they were clearing them out. Eventually sold it on ebay with all my movies. Decided to stick with my ps3 and pioneer elite blu ray players. HD-DEAD.
 
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